Diamond drill



Aw. G. LAKE DIAMOND DRILL April :29,A 1947.

Filed April 3o, 1945 Inventar Patented Apr. 29m, 1947 William Gordon Lake, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,

assigner to J. K. Smit '& Sons of Canada Limited, Toronto, Ontario,Canada, a company of Canada Application April 30, 1945, Serial No. 591,183

This invention relates to a diamond drill of the type employed by mines, miners, prospectors, geologists, diamond drill contractors, construction engineers and the like for drilling holes or for obtaining a core or sample of the geological structure or strata through which a drill passes, and is particularly directed to providing improvements in the arrangement and design of the core bit, reamer, and coupler elements at the working end of a diamond drill.

Diamond drills of the type employed for drilling holes or for obtaining a core or sample of a geological structure or strata are well known in the mining art and are extensively used, particularly in prospectingand in mine development perations.- Such drills include, in general, a boring column comprising a diamond studded bit for 'cutting the core, a reaming shell, a core barrel and rods,the` reaming shell serving as a coupling between the bit and the core barrel.

In the use of diamond drills, the core sample is cut by the rotation of the diamond studded bit and, at the same time, it is necessary to ream the wall of thedrill hole by means of a diamond studded reamer attachment for the purpose of maintaining consistent hole size to vpermit extraction and insertion of the device from and into the drill hole.

One ofv the principal objects of this invention is to provide an improved reamer attachment which is located immediately adjacent to the bit, thereby permitting easy withdrawal of the bit and which minimizes the distance tobe reamed when a new bit is attached to the core barrel and inserted into the drill hole.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel design of reamer which is easily attached to or separated from the drilling assembly and when in place is securely locked in xed position against rotation independently of the core barrel.

A still further object .of the invention is to provide a reamer attachment whereby wear onits outer shell through abrasion'by rock particles is minimized and the life of this part is prolonged accordingly with corresponding economies in operating costs incident to renewals.

An understanding of the manner in which the above andother objects of the invention are attained may be had from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the working end of a diamond drill incorporating the improvements of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section;

3 Claims. (Cl. Z55-72) Figure 3 is a perspective view of the bit;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the reamer;

Figure 5 is a perspective View of the reamer coupling;

Figure' is a perspective view of an alternative arrangement for securing the reamer tothe coupling; and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of ank internally threaded reamer for use with the coupling illustrated in Figure 6.

Like reference characters refer to like 'parts throughout the specification and drawings.

The working end of a diamond drill incorporating the improvements oi' the present invention, 'as illustrated in Figure 1, comprises, in general, a tubular coupling having an externally threaded shank, an annular ring having a dlamond studded outer face detachably iittable on the shank, means for securing the annular ring in xed position for rotation with the coupling, and an internally threaded diamond studded bit threadedly securable to said coupling in snug fitting relationship with the annular diamond studded ring, the main surfaces of the coupling, ring, and. bit being in approximate alignment land theV diamonds of said annular ring extending beyond the main surfaces.

Referring to Figures 1 through 5 of the drawings, the numeral I0 indicates a tubular coupling in the form of a reamer coupling. This coupling is usually of a steel of sufficient strength and hardness to resist the operating strains and the abrasive action of rock particles to which it is exposed. The coupling is formed With an vexternally threaded shank II which is adapted to be threaded into the end of the tubular core barrel, not shown. At the other end ofthe coupling is provided an unthreaded portion I2 of reduced diameter and of a length approximately equalto the height of the reamer I4 to be described in detail hereinafter. The portion ofthe shank between the unthreaded portion of reduced diameterv I2 Aand 1its end is' externally threaded, as-indicated by the numeral I3, for threading intothe internally threaded end 'of the bit 2IlaisoY described in detail hereinafter.

The reamer I4 is in the form of an annular ring of a height approximately equal to the lengtliof the unthreaded' portion I2 of the shank of the coupling, of an internal diameter only slightly greater than the external diameter of the portion I2 in order to form a t whichis snug and yet permitsof ,easy attachment and detachment, and of a wall thickness approximately equal to the diercncebetween the external diameters of the coupling and the unthreaded portion I2 of the shank so that the reamer ts snugly on the shank with the walls of the reamer and the coupling in approximate alignment. The outer face of the annular ring is studded with diamonds I5, such as by moulding or by any other known method, so that thediamonds extend beyond the mainsurface of the ring, for example, about 2%060 of an inch.

The reamer may be secured in fixed position". for rotation with the coupling by any one of several means, such as by keying. It is preferred' to secure it, however, by providing onev or `rnoreprojections or keys I6 which extend'from the periphery of the coupling a short distance along fthe shank portion I2 and t snugly into correspondingly shaped keyways I'I cutA in the rimof'the reamer.

The bit 29 is of tubular design, being internally threaded at one end, as at 2I, for attachment to the threaded shank lf3, and is studded with diamonds22 at its opposite end, such as by moulding or other methods according to standard practices. The internal bore of the bit may be tapered'suitably .toreceive a core lifter spring according to -standard practice.

One or more shallow grooves 25 are cut-longi tudinally in the outer wall of the coupling, reamer land'bit to carry waterffrom the face of the bit to the diamond studded reamer to prevent excessive heating and wearingof this part. In assembling, the severalparts .are preferably positioned such `that Vthe respective grooves 25 form a continuous Achannel, as illustratedin Figure 1.-

In assembling,`the shank II ofthe coupling I kis'threaded tightly'into the lower end of the tubular. core barrelithe annular reamer ring IIIis tted, ina light-press fit, yon'the unthreadedfpor- `tion 'i2 of the other shank with the keysor projections I6 fitted snugly into the keyways I'I; and

the diamond .studded bit Ais threaded on to the 'threaded portion I3 of the shank, the 'several fparts'being drawn tightly together to prevent entrance of rock particlesfinto the joints and to `lock the respective parts together forrotation'. l

An alternative arrangement 'for securing the reamer to the coupling is illustrated in Figures 6 -and '7.' The shank V3l! to which the reamer is secured is shown as threaded its full length, and jthe reamer V3I is shown as internally threadedto `be threadedly attached to the shank 30. This arrangement has all the advantages of the arrangementdescribed hereinbefore wtih the exception --thatthe wall thickness of the reamer isless, due to the grooves of the internal threads and, as a result, is not as ideally adapted for the setting of larger size diamonds.

It is found that the novel arrangement of the parts of the working end of a diamond drill of A the present invention has many advantages. The

arrangement of the reamer and the externally `threaded tubular coupling permits' of greater thickness in the walls of the coupling and the `reamer which makes possible a wide range of diamondsizes whichA are necessary in drilling in different types cf-ground; and minimizes wear on the Vouter surfaces of the parts, thereby greatly 'extending the useful life of the reamer and :coupling parts and minimizing the danger of possible loss of the bit in the drill hole due to `breakage at thispoint. The arrangement of the .reamerV and the'manner in which it is attached ,to the coupling is of important advantage in that "thereis no diiculty in maintaining gauge sizes within very narrow `limits and when the diamonds .is;insertedinto1the drill hole.

'of-the bit thereby minimizing the distance between the cutting edges of the two parts and the distance required to be reamed in the bottom of the drill hole between the lowermost edges of the reaming diamonds and the bit when a new bit The advantage of this featurevislimportant for in instances of hard roek'drilling a bitmay be useful for a distance of only about 20 feet of drilling, thereby necessitatingrelativelyfrequent extraction and insertion of the parts from and into the drill hole.

'It willbe understood, of course, that modiiications may be made in the preferred embodiments of the `invention described and illustrated herein without departingfrom'the scope 0f the invention as denedby the appended claims.

What I claim 'asnew and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United vStates is:

l. In a, drilling tool, the combination of a tubular coupling vhaving an externally threaded shank,

,at each end, an unthreaded'portion of reduced diameter vat oneend between the body of the Vcoupling and thethread'an annular ring having adiamond studded outer face detachably ttable on the unthreaded-portion of reduced diameter,

`means for .securing the annular ring in position for rotation with the coupling, and a tubular bit `internally'threaded'at one end for attachment jtothe last' mentioned shankin snug fitting relationship with the end of saidannular ring.

3.V In a drillingy tool, the combination of a tubu- 'lar coupling havingangexternally threaded shank at each end, and an unthreaded portion of re- .fduced diameter at one -endvbetween thebody of vtheV coupling and `the thread, an :annulartring having a' diamond studded'outer face detachably ttable on said unthreaded .portion of reduced diameter, meansfor securing the annular ring in :position for rotation with the coupling comprising at least one key extending from one of said parts into a correspondingly shaped keyway cut inf-the other of said parts, and a tubular bit internally threaded at one endfor attachment to the' last mentioned shank in snug tting relationship withthe `end of said annular ring.

WILLIAM GORDON LAKE.

REFERENCES CITED VThe ,following references are of record le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS ink the Number 

